- The first African American actor to play Uncle Tom in "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1878. The story debuted on stage in 1852, but before Lucas the role was played by white actors in blackface.
- A former slave, Sam Lucas, in addition to being both the stage and screen's first black actor to play Uncle Tom in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was also one of the first, and possibly the greatest, Afro-American minstrel performers. Leading his own minstrel troupe for many years, his greatest song success, which he also wrote,was "I Never Will Forget the Day I Was Set Free.".
- A veteran of the American Civil War; he enlisted in the 5th United States Colored Infantry on March 29, 1865 in Cincinnati, Ohio; he was stationed at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, until he was discharged, as a Sergeant in Company H on August 30, 1865 in Columbus, Ohio.
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